The Citizens Medical Center policy, instituted a little more than a year ago, requires potential employees to have a body mass index of less than 35 — which is 210 pounds for someone who is 5-foot-5, and 245 pounds for someone who is 5-foot-10. It states that an employee’s physique “should fit with a representational image or specific mental projection of the job of a healthcare professional,” including an appearance “free from distraction” for hospital patients.

The hospital claims its policy is legal. Only the state of Michigan and six U.S. cities — including San Francisco and Washington D.C. — ban discrimination against the overweight in hiring.

Citizens Medical Center’s written policy doesn’t indicate that paying for the health insurance of obese workers is too expensive — the reason some companies have been able to ban workers who use tobacco — or suggest that obese employees are unable to do their jobs. Mostly, it references physical appearance, and puts overweight applicants in the same category as those with visible tattoos or facial piercings.

Some people believe the hospital's policy puts it at risk of litigation. People with disabilities are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and in some court rulings, obesity has been interpreted as a disability. Citizen's Medical Center is already battling a discrimination lawsuit filed by doctors of Indian descent.

STAAR Test Begins

Students across Texas will take the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) standardized tests this week. STAAR is replacing the TAKS tests.

The Texas Education Agency says the STAAR performance standards will be set in October of this year. Starting next year, STAAR scores will account for 15 percent of high school students’ grades.

According to a TEA testing schedule, today students will take the English Writing tests. Tomorrow it's Math, Reading, and Writing. The tests continue through Thursday.

Baylor's NCAA Basketball Tournament Results

The Baylor Bears' NCAA Basketball Final Four hopes were dashed Sunday as the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats beat them 82-70, says ESPN. The Bears – who were the only Texas team remaining in the NCAA tournament – were led by senior forward Quincy Acy who scored 22 points and junior guard Pierre Jackson who added another 21 points for the Bears. But despite their efforts, Baylor was unable to rout the Wildcats. Kentucky led 42 – 22 at the half and Baylor was unable to close the gap, trailing by at least 10 points the rest of the game.

While the Baylor’s men’s basketball team is out, the women’s team is still running strong.

The Lady Bears defeated 4th-ranked Georgia Tech 83-68, says ESPN. The Lady Bears were led by All-American star Brittney Griner. Griner ended the night with 35 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks. Baylor advances to the Elite Eight and will play the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. The game is tonight at 6 p.m.

Related Content

Texas is the 12th most obese state in the U.S., according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011. The report is from the non-profit research group Trust for America’s Health.

Texas has been slowly creeping up the list for the past two years, ranking 14th in 2009, and 13th in 2010. The obesity rate in Texas for adults is 30 percent. Fifteen years ago that number was 16 percent.

Bowing to pressure from parents, superintendents and state lawmakers, Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott said he will defer for one year a rule that would have required a new standardized test account for 15 percent of a student’s final course grade. The waiver applies to the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR test).

The Texas Department of Information Resources announced it has signed new contracts consolidating the state’s data management and IT operations, dumping an existing contract with IBM.

The largest contract goes to a Dallas-based unit of the Xerox Corporation, known as ACS State and Local Solutions. In a press release on its website, the company says this is the largest project of its kind in the country.

Under an $848 million, eight-year contract, Xerox will help the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) streamline IT operations of state agencies by refreshing technology and combining operations from 28 separate facilities to two centralized data centers. The transformation will reduce the cost of running multiple data centers, and improve security and disaster recovery capabilities.